Author Guide · Contemplative Christianity
Books Written by
In 1990 Cynthia Bourgeault, an Episcopal priest with a PhD in medieval studies, went to St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass, Colorado, for a ten-day Centering Prayer retreat led by the Trappist monk Thomas Keating. The next year she spent three months there, working closely with Keating and meeting the hermit Brother Raphael Robin, who became her spiritual partner. Since then she has written about contemplative prayer, the Wisdom tradition inside Christianity and the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff, and founded a network of Wisdom Schools that she has described as “St. Benedict meets Gurdjieff”. This guide covers her 12 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 12 key books · 1999–2024 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Cynthia Bourgeault’s best-known books are The Wisdom Jesus (2008), Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening (2004), The Heart of Centering Prayer (2016) and The Meaning of Mary Magdalene (2010). Start with The Wisdom Jesus, which sets out the view of Jesus as a wisdom teacher that runs through all her later work; read on for the practice books and the more demanding ones on Gurdjieff and the Trinity.
Where to Start with Cynthia Bourgeault
If you want her central idea
→ The Wisdom Jesus (2008) — Jesus as a teacher of the transformation of consciousness.
If you want to learn Centering Prayer
→ Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening (2004) — the method, its roots and how to practise it.
If you want her most personal book
→ Love Is Stronger Than Death (1999) — her bond with a Trappist hermit, before and after his death.
If you want the practice in more depth
→ The Heart of Centering Prayer (2016) — Centering Prayer read as a nondual path.
12 Cynthia Bourgeault Books, in Order
Love Is Stronger Than Death
The story of her bond with Brother Raphael Robin, a Trappist hermit about twenty years older than her, whom she met at Snowmass in Colorado. Their relationship was platonic; he died of a heart attack after about three years, and the book follows what she experienced after his death. It draws on Gurdjieff and Jacob Boehme, carries an introduction by Brother David Steindl-Rast, and was reissued in 2014.
Mystical Hope
Five meditations that treat hope not as an expectation that things will turn out well but as a steady presence at the core of a person, rooted in the mercy of God.
The Wisdom Way of Knowing
A short guidebook to the Christian Wisdom path, which she presents as a way of knowing with the whole person rather than the mind alone. It draws on Sufism, Benedictine monastic practice, the Gurdjieff Work and modern physics.
Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening
A guide to Centering Prayer, the silent method taught by Thomas Keating, in which the person praying lets go of each thought as it arises. She explains how to practise it, places it within older Christian contemplative tradition and argues for a dialogue between practitioners and the wider Church.
Chanting the Psalms
A history of psalm chanting in Christian worship and a practical course in doing it, written for readers of any musical ability and sold with an instructional CD. It draws on her academic training in early music and medieval liturgical drama.
The Wisdom Jesus
Bourgeault presents Jesus mainly as a teacher of wisdom, a guide to transforming consciousness, rather than only as a saviour. Drawing on the Nag Hammadi texts, she rereads words such as “repentance” and “heart”, gives a new reading of the Beatitudes and builds the book around “self-emptying love”. Publishers Weekly noted that strict legalists might resist it; chapters end with primers on meditation and chanting.
The Meaning of Mary Magdalene
An argument that Mary Magdalene was Jesus’s closest disciple and the one who understood his teaching most fully. Bourgeault works from the canonical gospels, legend, art and early Christian texts that are not in the Bible.
The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three
Her most theoretical book reads the Trinity not as a fixed doctrine about three persons but as a pattern of change in which three forces produce something new. She takes the idea of the Law of Three from Gurdjieff and connects it with the German mystic Jacob Boehme.
The Heart of Centering Prayer
A return to Centering Prayer twelve years after her first book on it, this time presented as a nondual practice: a way of opening to God that moves beyond the sense of a separate self. She draws on the fourteenth-century English text The Cloud of Unknowing and writes for newcomers and experienced practitioners alike.
Eye of the Heart
An exploration of what she calls the imaginal realm, a world of meaning perceived through the heart rather than the senses, drawing on the philosopher Henry Corbin. She looks at dreams, prophecy and vision, and at what this realm means for personal and collective life.
The Corner of Fourth and Nondual
A short summary of her theology written for the My Theology series, in which theologians set out their own positions. It centres on what she calls seeing with the eye of the heart.
Thomas Keating
A portrait of her teacher Thomas Keating, the Trappist monk who taught Centering Prayer and died in 2018, concentrating on his last years. She traces how his thinking moved from the framework of a false self and a true self towards “no self”, shaped by nondual practice and what she describes as a dark night of the spirit.
In What Order to Read Cynthia Bourgeault
Her books do not form a series, so you can start anywhere, but they divide into two groups. The practice books — Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening, Chanting the Psalms, The Heart of Centering Prayer — tell you what to do. The theology books — The Wisdom Jesus, The Meaning of Mary Magdalene, The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three, Eye of the Heart — explain why, and grow more demanding as they go.
Read The Wisdom Jesus first, because the later theology builds on it. Keep The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three for later: it assumes some familiarity with Gurdjieff’s ideas.
A reading path
1. The Wisdom Jesus (2008)
2. Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening (2004)
3. The Meaning of Mary Magdalene (2010)
4. The Heart of Centering Prayer (2016)
5. Eye of the Heart (2020)
Everything Else Cynthia Bourgeault Published
Beyond the 12 key books: 7 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Co-written books and collections
4
4 books · 2008–2021
- 2008The Luminous Gospels: Thomas, Mary Magdalene, and Philiptranslations of three early Christian texts, with Lynn C. Bauman and Ward J. Bauman
- 2010Holy Week Liturgieschants, readings and prayers from the Episcopal House of Prayer, with Ward Bauman and Darlene Franz
- 2018Love Is the Answer. What Is the Question?reflections from 2016 to 2018, published by the Center for Action and Contemplation
- 2021Mystical Couragecommentaries on contemplative exercises by G.I. Gurdjieff, as compiled by Joseph Azize
Introductions and forewords
3
3 books · 2005–2020
- 2005The Divine Feminine in Biblical Wisdom Literatureforeword to annotated selections on Wisdom (Sophia) in scripture
- 2019Gurdjieff Reconsideredextended foreword to Roger Lipsey’s study
- 2020The Mystery of Deathintroduction and commentary to Ladislaus Boros’s book
The years · 1947–2024
Quick facts about Cynthia Bourgeault
- Known for
- Bourgeault is known for teaching Centering Prayer and for presenting Christianity as a Wisdom tradition, with Jesus as a teacher of inner transformation.
- 1947
- Born near Philadelphia
- 1979
- Ordained an Episcopal priest
- 1991
- Three months at Snowmass with Thomas Keating
- 2008
- The Wisdom Jesus
- 2024
- Thomas Keating
- Born
- 1947, raised in the countryside west of Philadelphia; her mother was a Christian Scientist
- Education
- PhD in medieval studies, specialising in early music and liturgical drama; theology at the Philadelphia Divinity School
- Ordained
- Priest in the Episcopal Church, 1979
- Teacher
- Thomas Keating, from a Centering Prayer retreat at Snowmass in 1990
- Founded
- The Contemplative Society in British Columbia (1995) and the Wisdom Schools (from 1999)
- Honours
- Contemplative Voices award from the Shalem Institute (2014)
- Lives
- A seaside hermitage in Maine
The red mark is 2008: The Wisdom Jesus, the book that sets out her view of Jesus as a teacher of wisdom.
How Cynthia Bourgeault Writes: Theology You Practise
Almost every Bourgeault book joins an argument to a practice. The Wisdom Jesus ends its chapters with primers on meditation and chanting, Chanting the Psalms came with an instructional CD, and both Centering Prayer books explain the method step by step before they explain what it means. Ideas, in her books, are meant to be tested in silence.
Her sources are unusually wide for an Episcopal priest. Alongside the gospels and the Christian mystics, such as The Cloud of Unknowing and Jacob Boehme, she draws on the Gurdjieff Work, Sufism, the Nag Hammadi texts and the philosopher Henry Corbin, and her training as a medievalist shows in her close reading of old texts.
She also writes from her own life. Love Is Stronger Than Death is a memoir of her bond with Brother Raphael Robin, and her book on Thomas Keating is a portrait of her own teacher. For other writers on the contemplative life, see the guides to Thomas Merton and Henri Nouwen.
Watch
Integrating Wisdom Christianity and the Work of Gurdjieff
In an episode of the Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions podcast Pop Apocalypse, Bourgeault talks about her upbringing, her training in medieval sacred drama, her path to the priesthood and how she brings together Christian contemplation and Gurdjieff’s Work.
Frequently asked questions about Cynthia Bourgeault’s books
How many books has Cynthia Bourgeault written?
The Contemplative Society, which she helped found, lists 20 titles from 2001 to 2024, including co-written books and books she introduced. This page covers her 12 key books, from Love Is Stronger Than Death (1999) to Thomas Keating (2024), and lists the others below them.
What are Cynthia Bourgeault’s books in order?
Love Is Stronger Than Death (1999), Mystical Hope (2001), The Wisdom Way of Knowing (2003), Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening (2004), Chanting the Psalms (2006), The Wisdom Jesus (2008), The Meaning of Mary Magdalene (2010), The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three (2013), The Heart of Centering Prayer (2016), Eye of the Heart (2020), The Corner of Fourth and Nondual (2022) and Thomas Keating (2024).
Where should I start with Cynthia Bourgeault?
The Wisdom Jesus (2008). It sets out her view of Jesus as a wisdom teacher, which the later books build on. If you want to begin with the practice instead, read Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening (2004).
What is Cynthia Bourgeault’s most famous book?
The Wisdom Jesus (2008) is her best-known book. Among practitioners, Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening (2004) and The Heart of Centering Prayer (2016) are widely used guides to the method.
What is Centering Prayer?
A silent form of Christian prayer taught by the Trappist monk Thomas Keating, in which the person praying sits in silence and lets go of each thought as it arises, as a way of consenting to God’s presence. Bourgeault learned it from Keating at Snowmass, Colorado, from 1990.
What was Cynthia Bourgeault’s connection to Thomas Keating?
Keating was her teacher. She first attended a Centering Prayer retreat he led at St. Benedict’s Monastery in Snowmass in 1990 and spent three months working closely with him there in 1991. In 2024 she published Thomas Keating: The Making of a Modern Christian Mystic, a portrait of his last years.
What is a Wisdom School?
A retreat programme of contemplative practice and study, which she has described as “St. Benedict meets Gurdjieff”. The first was held in British Columbia in 1999; the Aspen Wisdom School followed in 2004, and the schools now form an international network.
Why does Cynthia Bourgeault write about Gurdjieff?
She combines Christian contemplative practice with the Work of G.I. Gurdjieff, the Armenian-born teacher of inner development. The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three (2013) builds on his idea of the Law of Three, and Mystical Courage (2021) comments on his contemplative exercises.
Is Cynthia Bourgeault still alive?
Yes. She was born in 1947 and still teaches; in August 2026 Harvard’s Center for the Study of World Religions published a long interview with her. She lives in a seaside hermitage in Maine.
Is Cynthia Bourgeault an Episcopal priest?
Yes. She was ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church in 1979, after a PhD in medieval studies and theology courses at the Philadelphia Divinity School.
Footnotes
- Cynthia Bourgeault timeline — The Contemplative Society
- A guide to Cynthia Bourgeault’s books — The Contemplative Society
- Cynthia Bourgeault — Shambhala Publications
- A Life Between Worlds — Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions, 2026
- The Wisdom Jesus — Publishers Weekly
- Love’s long arm — In Trust, 2000
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“Human beings stand with one foot in the embodied, finite world, and one foot in what has come to be called the imaginal.”
— Cynthia Bourgeault, interview with Harvard’s Center for the Study of World Religions (2026)
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